Figure 1.--This is an asylo , one of many asylums establishe in Athens for the homeless and starving children during the German occupation. Note how emaciated the boys are. The boys here wear smocks, clothing like food was very scarce. Photo by Kostas Paraschos.

The Greek children were especially affected by the German occupation. No other group of Greeks, except the elderly Jews, were more affected by the occupation and the resulting famine than the children. There were many executions, including resistance fighters and even more civilian hostages. Large numbers of Greeks were deported to Germany to work as slave laborers. Thousands of children starved. Asylos were set up for the thousands of displaced children. Because of German policies, however, resources were unavailable to deal with the crisis. Asylo or asylums were established to care for the children. We know very little about institutions at this time. One image shows emacuated boys at one of these asylos wearing smocks.

Greek Families

The Greek children were especially affected by the German occupation. No other group of Greeks, except the elderly Jews, were more affected by the occupation and the resulting famine than the children. A Greek reader writes, "There is also something interesting that you should mention: the reason why children (mainly boys) found themseves in the streets. In times of famine one would expect that children and ederly people will be the first to die (like in Africa). This is not however what happened in Greece. The structure and the mentality of the Greek family is (still) very different than that of the Western societies. During famine, parents would give all the available food to their children. Elderly people would be the first to sacrifice themselves in favor of the new generation. Then the father would die, then the mother, and the children would be left alone. Alive, but orphans. In other societies people would respond by making more children to replace the deceased ones. This is not the case of Greece, however, parents prefer to die than sacrifice any of their existing children." This mentality apparently left hordes of orphans and homeless children, especially in big cities and Athens (where relatives who lived far away, in the villages could not have known their fate of their relatives and take responsibility of the orphans). [Manzower] HBC is not positive that this is so different that what would have occurred in other Western countries where many parents would have done their upmost to save their children. Our Greek reader writes, "The structure of the Mediterrenean family, however, is very different than say the family of Northern Europe or the United States. Possibly people from a different country would think more one might say 'rational' and split the food equally in order to give each person a chance to live. One could think, 'What will be the future of my children if I die?'."

Schools

Schools were scalled back during the occupation. The same patter occurred in both the Itlaian and German occupied areas. I am not sure hust why school was scaled back. I do not know if there was a lack of resources by the Greek Government under occuoation or if it was a decission by the Germans and Italians to limit Greek schooling. Nor do I know to what extent the German and Italian authorities ciontrolled who the teachers were and what they taught. In Albania and Slovenia to the north, the Italians insisted that Italian be spoken and taught in the schools. The Germans in their zone of Slovenia which was annexed to the Reich insisted on German. I am not sure about school policies in other areas of Yugoslavia such as Croatia and Serbia. Kosovo was annexed to Italian occupied Albabia. I do not think that the Otalians insistedthat Italian be spoken in Greek schools, but have few details at this time. The school year of 1941-42 lasted only 3 months. That of 1942-43 was only 20 days. I am not sure about 1943-44. Unable to attend school, many students even quite young children commited themselves to political activism. Some teachers did their best to continue teaching. Some even taught on the steeps of burned out schools.

The Resistance

There were many executions, including resistance fighters and even more civilian hostages. The Germans and Itlaians, often unable to find the Resistance fighters who launched attacks would execute civilian hostages. Some whole villages were targeted, but executing adult hostages was the most common expedient. The hostages were usually, but not always men. This of course meant that their children were orphaned. Many children were left with just their mothers, but this meant a family disaster because in most Greek families the father had been the bread winner.

Slave Labor

Large numbers of Greeks were deported to Germany to work as slave laborers. The Germans had a desperate need to labor to keep their war industry running. Most able bodied German workers were concscripted for military service. The NAZIs refused to use married women in factories as was done in America, Britain, and Europe. As a result, they began conscrioting potential workers in the occupied countrues. Usually these were younger adults without children. I do not yet have details on the deportations to Germany of Greek slave laborers.

Famine

Thousands of adults and children starved in Greece as a result of famine. This was not plananned by the NAZIs in the same way that Jews were starved in the gettoes and concentration camps or that Stalin enginered the Ukranian famine. The Greek famine appears to have been more a matter of NAI indifference. Greece imported food and after the occupation this was no longer possible. The condition was wornsened by shipments of food to Germany to support the war economy. By the end of the War in 1945, famine was affecting other area as well. The Dutch for example were near starvation when the British and Canadians finally reached them in spring 1945. No country suffered from famine, however, to the same extent as Greece.

Street Children

These children (mainly boys) formed groups. One might say gangs, but without the sinister connontation of crime thatis associated with the word today. They looked in the streets for any kind of food. A Greek reader reports, "I have read many descriptions and by eye witenesses but none reported that these boys attacked people for food. They were however mistreated by the Occupation authorities who would make fun of throwing a piece of bread and watch them fight, or during the winter, throwing snowballs to them. In the gangs of boys, the leader was often an older guy (in his 20s) playing the role of their protector. This is very interesting since many university students later (from Feb 1943) ogranized these boys into the "Aetopoula" group.

Asylos

A few Asylos were set up for the thousands of displaced children. Because of German policies, however, resources were unavailable to deal with the crisis. Asylo or asylums were established to care for the children. So the Tsolakoglou (puppet) government appears to have made an effort to keep Athens clear of homeless boys by establishing some asylos, although information on this is still limited. We know very little about these institutions at this time. One image shows emacuated boys at one of these asylos wearing smocks. There were only few asylos established, mainly in Athens. We have very limited information, but a Greek reader estimates that couldn't have been more than two or three--hardly adequate to meet the need. The photograph of the asylo here is from Daphne, a district of Athens (figure 1). The Greek government established them in an desperate effort to keep children out of the streets and show that there are no starving children in Athens. I think that later, some were established by funds provided by Greeks from the United States and Canada. At the time of the invasion and until December 10 when Hitler declared war on America, the United States was not officially at War with Germany and some relief efforts were possible. Probably the smock was used as clothing at the Asylos because it was cheap and practical garment. A smock is simple to produce and would have been much cheaper than a short and pants. Probably the state could buy them cheap from the manufacturers since schools didn't operate much during that time. The school year of 1941-1942 lasted 3 months and than of 1942-1943 only 20 days. Our Greek reader is positive that the smocks were blue. blue. Asylos were established minly to keep children off the streets. In asylos they would probably find a soup, some clothing, a shelter and some medical care, but they were nothing like a properly operating orphanage. We have few details about these asylos and conditions there. It is safe to say that the children there were not happy, but at least they got some minimal amount of food. After the war there were many orphanages established and children were sent there. Conditions there were not luxuruious, but were a vast improvement over the asylos. In addition, there were places for all needy children.

Sources

Mazower, Mark. Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-1944 (Yale University Press, 1993), 437p.

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Created: March 17, 2003
Last updated: March 20, 2003